These are very tense times in the Duggar household.
What began with a feud between Derick Dillard and Jim Bob Duggar has developed into something much bigger than either man.
Derick is popular with his in-laws, and it seems several of them have sided with him in he long-awaited anti-Jim Bob rebellion.
This represents a big shift in he way business is usually done in the Duggar clan.
Usually, once Duggar women get married, they're no longer under their father's control.
This is why Jinger Duggar was able to start wearing pants after she married Jeremy Vuolo.
She was no longer under Jim Bob's thumb, and her sartorial freedom was now in the hands of her husband.
Jeremy, being a sane individual, didn't care if his wife rocked a pair of Levi's now and then, and the rest was history.
But it seems Jim Bob's married daughters are taking their newfound freedom a bit further than he intended.
There was a time when the entire family would have rallied to his defense against Derick.
These days, however, they've decided to keep mum and allow the decision to play out.
Sure, Jessa made a video about Jim Bob in which she sings his praises for an entire 52 minutes.
But many noticed that at no point did she address his feud with Derick, or the claims that Jim Bob has been embezzling money and lining his pockets with his kids earnings from TLC.
Some have pointed out that Jim Bob is technically not guilty of embezzlement or theft due to the fact that his kids are not under contract.
But when you're forcing kids to work for free and pocketing money that's intended for them, you know damn well you're stealing, regardless of what the legal docs say.
Anyway, insiders say Jim Bob is currently drawing a line in the sand and forcing his family to choose:
They can remain loyal to him ... or they can wind up like Jill and Derick.
The Dillards are no longer on the family payroll, and it seems they've been feeling the financial consequences of falling out of favor with Jim Bob.
Sure, he doesn't give his kids the money they've earned, but he at least he hits them with an allowance for living expenses.
These days, the Dillards are on their own, and Derick is working as a Grub Hub driver to pay the bills.
Those closest to the family say he and Jill have become something of a cautionary tale to the rest of the family.
Thus far, Jim Bob has kept mum on the subject of his feud with his son-in-law, but apparently, that won't be the case much longer.
He's biding his time and making sure he has sufficient familial support before he goes after Derick.
That means, of course, forcing his other daughters to promise that they would never put him in a compromising position, as Jill has.
And yes, that means making them choose between him and their husbands.
It's an upheaval of the patriarchal system that's been in place for generations, but Jim Bob apparently believes such a move is necessary if he's to continue his uncontested control of the Duggar media empire.
We'll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.
